As a positive answer to this visceral and acute problem, UNLV has decided to hold a national conference to firmly address the issue. The major theme or thrust of the conference will focus on the Recruitment and Retention of Women and Minority Graduate Students in Engineering and the Sciences. Women and Minorities are not receiving the proper and adequate graduate education required to enter the expected technological advanced workforce of tomorrow. Therefore, the graduate education system of the nation is falling short of serving for them as the prime vehicle for upward mobility in our society.
At the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), we have recognized the severity of this growing problem and have decided to propose a solution or a sensible way to manage it. We have understood the importance of a well educated and diversified workforce and its impact on the smoothing out of sharp differences in our communities. Henceforth, it is expected to draft after the conference, a set of guidelines or a policy to deal with the problem. It is hoped that the policy will be first implemented at UNLV before its dissemination to the general public.
The conference falls directly in line with Goal# 5 of the University which is listed below with its action items:
Goal #5: Continue to Foster a Campus Environment that Respects Diversity and Free Expression
UNLV will be characterized by a civil, inclusive campus climate that demonstrates a respect for individual differences and a commitment to equity and free expression. That climate will create an environment where members of the campus community have increased awareness of diversity and the opportunity it presents.
ACTION ITEMS
In order to create an inclusive campus that respects diversity and freedom of expression, UNLV will:
- When possible, expand the Target of Opportunity program to include the recruitment of professional employees.
- Continue to promote diversity within the Department of Public Safety by hiring more females and ethnic minorities, emphasizing continuing diversity education programs, and encouraging alliances with other campus departments.
- Evaluate the accomplishments of campus units relative to diversity, inclusiveness, justice, and civility and use the results to help allocate resources allocations and in program planning.
- Design a means of undertaking an institutional conversation intended to clarify the meaning of diversity and its respective goals for UNLV, to provide examples of best practices, and to create an institutional statement of understanding about diversity.
- Ensure that UNLV continues to focus on diversity in institutional planning, campus events, and retention programs as a result of the university's commitment to the idea that diversity is an integral part of the university community.
- Honor and reward outstanding contributions by members of the campus community in promoting diversity on campus.
- Ensure that the institution is deliberate in efforts to educate UNLV students about the importance and value of diversity, to set expectations for tolerant and civil interactions, and to promote understanding about the rights and responsibilities inherent in free expression.
- Create and recommend a universal statement for syllabi that expresses the institution's commitment to diversity, civility, tolerance, and freedom of expression
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